If you have ever had to buy an automotive or marine battery you have most likely been asked: "What group size do you have?" If you have no idea what that means then this is the article for you!
While it sounds like a very technical term, it simply is referring to the physical dimensions of your battery, that's it! It has nothing to do with the cold cranking amps (CCA), where the terminals are located, the reserve capacity, the manufacturer, none of that. Strictly the length, width and height of your battery. This system was implemented by Battery Council International (BCI) to standardize and "group" together batteries that were dimensionally the same. Thanks to this system of sizing, a group 24 for example, manufactured by Exide which is 10 1/4" x 6 13/16" x 9", will be the same physical size as a group 24 manufactured by Northstar Battery.
Armed with this information, you don't even need a legible label on your old battery, if it's faded or missing completely just give our team at Treasure Coast Battery & Alternator the length, width and height of your old battery and we will know exactly what group size you have with no guess work!
This is NOT a way to compare the power and/or quality of the battery. That is done through a comparison of cold cranking amps (CCA) and reserve capacity (RC). To read more about these ratings and what you should be looking for check out our next article, "Comparing Apples to Apples, Cold Cranking Amps and Reserve Capacity."
David Jouppi - Manager
Treasure Coast Battery & Alternator
